


the lovers, the dreamers, and me

by katicsfx



Series: Obligatory Au's [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Everyone lives, F/F, F/M, Good Dumbledore, Gryffindor students - Freeform, Heri is a dreamer, Heri is harry, Heri isn't a horcrux, Hufflepuff students - Freeform, I mean some people kinda die, James Lives, Lily Lives, M/M, Slytherin Students - Freeform, Tom is non-existent so far, at all, but also bad Dumbledore, but it's complicated, he's a precious boi, i guess, idk where he's gonna pop up or how, it's a toss up, it's short for Henrietta, no wbwl, not canon, not really - Freeform, ravenclaw students - Freeform, she has a twin named Phillip too, that's explained in ch 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2020-10-29 02:54:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20789414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katicsfx/pseuds/katicsfx
Summary: Heri dreamt every night. She had been dreaming since she could remember, it came naturally as walking, talking, and even eating.





	1. I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory

Unfocused eyes cracked open, leaking salted droplets as a sob involuntarily escaped her. The obscured room was dimly lit, and a starry night not quite like the Great Hall glowed softly above her. She blinked away the tears as she looked around for any indication of where she was. She found her answer as she stumbled away from the bed. Footsteps where heard rushing down the hall and for one moment she was in Malfoy Manor, surrounded by what could only be countless enemies and wounded Hogwarts students, unaware of where Theo was and furiously trying to stop the bleeding and save Tracey. She could see Neeva a ways away backed by Susan Bones, the pair of them fighting off four cloaked figures before a fifth cut in and Susan was forced to alternate between shielding herself and Neeva. They weren't supposed to be here, where was the help they were supposed to get-

"_Henrietta_,"

She glanced up and momentarily the Manor faded and she was back in the starry room, sobbing and screaming and struggling to breathe correctly. A man was with her now, attempting to comfort her as another scream tore her throat. His hair was askew and his hazel eyes were just as stunning as the green orbs worriedly glancing at her from behind the man who was her father.

"_It was a dream darling, just a bad dream_-"

The manor faded back into view and Heri was able to witness the gleeful look on his face as he entered the room. Years of plotting left him with a twinkle and a thirst for being worshipped. It was only now that the world was realizing that he was more influenced by Grindlewald than he let on. The man walked unbothered even as he cut down Susan and left her remains eyeing the broken ceiling. Neeva cried out from where she was held at wandpoint.

" -_promise, it's okay._"

Tracy was staring at her, but she didn't see anything. How could she? Heri looked around mutely as Dumbledore made his way towards her. Theo was hanging, he didn't even have his legs. She could see Megan and Ernie cowering behind a couch, wands at the ready, maybe they could make it out. Was that Draco in the doorway? She had wondered where he had gotten too. He was missing an eye, he was bleeding, but he was- Dead. Heri let out a whimper as her friends finally fell one by one.

She bolted back from the contact that she couldn't see, the hand that held her was ready to subdue her, she knew.

"_Call Poppy here, hurry _-"

And then he was standing above her, grinning successfully as he pointed his wand. He clearly saw her as something to stand over, as something insignificant. In a weak effort, Heri felt herself lunge forward just as a jet of light burst from the elder wand. It hit her full faced and for a moment all she felt was pain and all she saw was darkness.

"_Poppy do something!_"

The second time she woke, she was numb and confused. She was staring at a pale blue sky that seemed to hum as she became aware of her surroundings. She turned unfocused eyes onto the room and decided that it was styled perfectly in a mess of soft colors and accessorized with dark furniture. Pictures lined the walls of the room and memories of the previous night came back to her with a dull ache. She blinked once, maybe twice, before she allowed herself to get up and creep towards the door. She reached for the band that she knew was on the nightstand and readily tied her hair up in a way that she had been used to before peering in the mirror that made up the wall of her room.

(_dead, dead eyes, why did she have dead eyes and a blue thumb? She always had dead eyes_)

It took her seconds to navigate the smaller house and she easily found the kitchen. There she stood in the doorway, watching the family that gathered with tired eyes. They were all there, looking as tired as she felt, she scared them, woke them, watched them die. Instead of commenting, she simply moved forward (_dontlookbackthedeadfollowyouback_), and sat with her father to her left and her brother to her right.

Heri couldn't find the energy to answer her mothers' questions or the looks her brother sent her way, she just finished her oatmeal and waited. It was a Bad sign, usually stored for when shes had a corrupt vision. Usually, they came in numbers and the signs would keep adding up until everyone knew she would break. On rare occasions, like today, she would wake up at the end point and even one wrong tone and Heri would break.

(_and snap into pieces she can't pick up, won't pick up, help her pick it up, **please help her**_)

There are so many ways this story can end, and they all revolve around today's events. On this day, the second of September, Henrietta and her brother Phillip are boarding the Hogwarts Express, on their way to a school filled with magic and families (and betrayals). When Death looks on to the poor girl who has escaped his grasp too many times, something akin to guilt fills his being.

And so, the Potter family finds their way to the platform a full 45 minutes early, conversing lightly and Heri finds herself perking up. She finds a compartment to share with Neeva early on, locks it as her mother showed her, and steps back onto the platform to spend the last of the time with her parents converse as they fuss over the twins.

Eventually, she and Neeva would retire to the compartment and wave their parents a tearful goodbye. Eventually, the heir to the Malfoy house would stumble upon them and an almost hesitant alliance would form. Eventually, Heri would be sorted into the house that would path her way. We found it funny that today should be the start of the rolling snowball when today was a day like any other. It's such a shame that even when Heri (_harry, harni, hope, holly, harold, belladonna, nathan, ariana, alexander,** to**_-) wants nothing to do with Albus Dumbledore, she cannot escape the prophecy that ties her life with his, with Riddle's, with Death.

No version of the young girl was ever able to avoid a prophecy yet to come true, and yet no other version of the girl had the same gifts she had. Heri saw death, felt death, _was_ death, in a way that would either strengthen her resolve or tear her soul. The Fates challenged her constantly while Death followed his creation. Once every few hundred souls or so, Death would forget how to be heartless. He would see a soul so pure, innocent, and forget his purpose. Heri was one of these souls, let go early on to have a life of struggle and defiance. A life filled with torment and despair if not properly had.

And yet, Death had never quite let the girl go completely as he had the others. He grew attached, often looking in on the girl who had claimed the heart he locked away long ago. And with Deaths heart came his loyalty.

Strangulation, amputation, splinching, clobbered by trolls, discarded by dark lord upon dark lord, sliced down by older men with agendas. Old age was never a factor. Old age was never an option. Life was always the endgame. Rebirthed in reality simply to become undone in her dreams.

Dreams were a funny thing. They do say, after all, that dreams were just visions we hadn't been able to understand. The more you appear lucid in your dreams, the more you noticed and therefore the more you were able to theorize about your own future. Dreams could be an art of divination on its own. Dreamers were rare, forgotten souls that had been believed extinct.

And then again, seers, true seers, were very much believed to be crackpots and the overdramatic addicts of the wizarding world. Seeing is unique, never the same and never quite simple. Nothing is ever quite as simple as it seems after all.

And yet Heri dreamed every night. She had been dreaming since she could remember, it came naturally as walking, talking, and even eating.

Heri was a dreamer, a part of her knew that this could be a good thing for her, to truly avoid any and every death that awaited her. Another part of her was too captivated by the shadow of a man that followed her.

_A girl born only to die,_

_who shall forever remain pure;_

_falls before corruption and laughs._

_For she has seen death, _

_felt death, become death._

_And death has become smitten_

_with the monster that he has created._

_She shall live her own death _

_side by side him, she shall perservere._

_A girl dead only to live,_

_who shall forever remain his;_

_falls before herself and smiles._

_For she shall see death,_

_welcome death, be welcomed by death._


	2. This is where it gets me ; on my feet the enemy ahead of me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And of course there were four ways today could have ended. Four and only four, simply because Philip would follow Henrietta to any house she was picked for. The two could have been sorted in any house and never have they been sorted apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit of a short one today but im binge working on all my works lately and hope to update soon!

The Great Hall was as Grand as ever, elegant, poise, and yet just a hint of childishness that you would expect out of a schools dining hall. Four tables of excited witches and wizards sat perpendicular to the teachers, allowing the heads of house to sit at the heads of the tables. Quite a great design, one Heri was quite smitten with.

The first years around her were all a jumbled mess of nerves, besides Pip of course. She and Pip knew what to expect thanks to not only her dreams but the stories from her father and their friends. Moony, Paddy, and Wormy along with her father were all vivid storytellers, the four of them worked together well to never leave out a single detail. They traveled all around the world once upon a time, bringing them back treasures that only children considered treasure. And then one day Wormy didn't come back.

Heri was brought out of her daydreaming by a soft, familiar nudge. Blinking back the images clouding her vision, she stepped forward brightly, smiling up at the familiar face holding the sorting hat.

And so she sat, and so she was evaluated, and so she kept suspiciously quiet when the hat (ali, star, stair, all-star, _Alistair_) asked her preference. She knew her own preference and she knew how it would end if she were sorted. She knew every death she could face by going into any of the houses.

"— and yet no objections? Well then, it better be... _Hufflepuff_."

And she stood, and she walked, and she waited. And so, she was joined by her brother, matching his mischief filled grin with a dreamy smile of her own. She might have liked Slytherin, might have preferred to be ambitious and cunning, but she would need loyalty and hard work to manage to survive these upcoming seven years. Perhaps even the years beyond Hogwarts if she managed to live through her schooling.

If she had her way, she would be the most Slytherin styled Hufflepuff that Hogwarts had ever seen. And Pip would be right next to her, she would make sure of it. The two of them would be the loudest, bravest, smartest, and most cunning Hufflepuffs to come in a long time.

And of course there were four ways today could have ended. Four and only four, simply because Philip would follow Henrietta to any house she was picked for. The two could have been sorted in any house and never have they been sorted apart.

[ _Well . . . No good story is based on _**_lies_**_ and for that fact alone will universe 7294 even be _**_mentioned_**_ at this time._ ]

There was the one _incident_, but it only shows that the two young Potters should never have been separated in the first place and meddlesome old fools should _know their place_.

Had the two been placed in Gryffindor, they would have made lifetime enemies and lifelong friendships. They would've slacked, gotten just above average grades and excelled in quidditch. They could've been perfectly _normal_. They could have professions in Quidditch easily.

The Ravenclaw Potters weren't any better. Instead of studying and competing with their housemates, they blended and sunk to the middle of their house, still well above their year. Though they would have shocked the world in their duiling and practical knowledge. They would grow to be either the best aurors, or the most feared hit wizards.

And the Slytherin possibilities, they grew to be cutthroat and straightforward. Political and slightly mad, they took on the Potter _(Philip)_ and Black _(Heri)_ Lordships. They were a force to be reckoned and, more dangerously, they were a wild card, even opposing Albus Dumbledore on multiple occasions.

But the Hufflepuff outcome, it is the strangest one, always has been. Quite frankly, everytime a Potter has been sorted into Hufflepuff, the archives stop. They can only record what is happening, and never what is to come. There has been aurors, political parties, dark witches and wizards, magical zoologists, and even one dragon handler to date. And still, that doesn't even include all the Potters yet to come.

Hufflepuff has always been the most dangerous outcome and it seems that it all depends on Heri and Philip now.

So the two settled into their houses, bright smiles forgiving elder grimaces and young bodies chatting speedily with their table. And off to the side, unnoticed by all, was a man smiling down at the pair of Badgers. More specifically at the girl that, almost sensing his presence, looked up at him. She smiled back.

[ _and with her smile his heart melted more. She was his. His sister, his companion, his heart itself. _]

She smiled and she turned from him as she was not his to keep but his to enjoy. He would watch her grow, nudged her in all the ways that counted, he _would_ keep her safe. He would not let her die, in memory or in name. She may be a child now but one day she would grow. She would be the one and only true master of him, and her kindness has never been exaggerated. She was as much a part of him as he was of her.

Eyes shifted to an old man wearily looking upon her with a frown. A man who outgrew his title and wished for anew. He thought he symbolized rebirth, and yet all that could be seen was an opposum for all the _lies and deceit. _Albus Dumbledore was loosing time, and quickly at that. Perhaps even faster than Riddle was, stuck as a cyst atop a followers head. And both were here, staring at his prizes as if they could use them. No, he would not let anyone take his dreamer from him, and he _**refused**_ to let them have _his shield_.

Phillip Potter may have been created for life, but that didn't mean that Death couldn't save him from the fate that his old friend had in mind. So long as the young boy continued to stand for his sister, to love and care, Death would protect the boy as his own. Death had favored no one, but perhaps he did still care.

_[ It was them who forgot, deaths job would not define him. Perhaps his job was cold and scathing but his spirit had to be warm and inviting for him to truly guide others beyond. ]_

**Author's Note:**

> any change up of names is accidental, Henrietta is the true name and anything else is a draft name that I missed correcting :)


End file.
